Further flight from urban exposure is supported by two trends that are occurring simultaneously. The first is the re-population of rural areas (Richards, 1994) and the second is burgeoning growth of the Internet. Both are fueled by desires to overcome the friction of distance and both draw on the promises of the National Information Infrastructure as the solution to the problem.

The Internet, precursor to the National Information Infrastructure, evolved from DarpaNet in the mid 1970s. Like the highway system, DarpaNet developed to bring people together in communication-based activities, and like the highway system has evolved to serve more than its original purpose, that of facilitating collaboration between researchers working at different institutions. In yet another parallel to the clogged highway system that crisscrosses the land, the Internet also is beginning to choke. Rather than with a welcoming salutation and connection, World Wide Web users are being greeted by "Access denied by host." To address the increase in congestion, more bandwidth is being promised, and indeed provided. With this promise comes the assurance of commercialization, and the appearance of a pricing mechanism (MacKie-Mason and Varian, 1994) to regulate traffic and subsidize this expensive new cost of networking. This rationing device (price schedule) will be used to moderate traffic to a level of adequate throughput and system maintenance much as the toll booth does on the highway.